This is What it Looks Like When a 265 ton Antrares Rocket Explodes During Launch

Last year, Orbital Science's Antares Rocket was scheduled to lift off on a supply run to the International Space Station, carrying with it 5,000 pounds of supplies and science equipment that would reach the ISS via a Cygnus spacecraft. On that clear October night, the unmanned rocket suffered what was described as a catastrophic anomaly mere seconds after its initial launch. While nobody was hurt during the explosive launch failure, the event was a harrowing reminder of the dangers of space travel and the subsequent NASA inquest failed to provide a comprehensive answer as to what had caused things to go so horribly wrong.

Now, just over a year after the event, NASA has uploaded a series of images detailing the explosion in spectacular detail. It's not clear why NASA has decided to share the images (via their Flickr account), but they do give a new detailed look at how things went wrong that night.